Daily News
With the help of coupons, Susan Samtur bought $95 worth of groceries for only $3.45 at an area grocery store Thursday Mrs. Samtur, the nationally known 'Coupon Queen,' started using coupons about 10 years ago when she and her husband bought their first house in Yonkers, N.Y. She began saving labels and boxtops in 1973 and received $1,500 in refunds in one year Soon she realized manufacturers were developing patterns in then refunding. That's when she began saving her refund materials and developing a system. The system has brought her money in addition to refunds. Explaining how it works in three books and on national television shows, she has become a symbol of coupon success. She was schedule to explain it again at 2 p.m. and 6:30 p.m. today and 1 p.m. and 4 p.m. Saturday at Greenwood Mall. The food she bought Thursday be given away in a drawing Saturday at the mall. Mrs. Samtur has two filing systems. One is for coupons which she puts in categories according to the different grocer sections of products. The other system is for refunding. She saves labels, tops and bottoms of products and proof of purchase seals. It takes up quite a bit of space, but it is worth it because of the cycling patterns in refunding, she said. She spends about a half a day every two weeks on her coupons and refunds. She uses about 60 coupons weekly, saving her about $45 a week. She also mails 60-70 refunds weekly, receiving an average of $100 monthly. The average refund is worth $1.75, she said. Despite her use of coupons, her shopping habits have not changed much, Mrs. Samtur said Most of the coupons she uses are for national brands and can be used in almost every store. "Sometimes I do switch to a brand because of a coupon, but if I don't like the product I won't get it again." Mrs. Samtur said. Because of her refunding and use of coupons, she is a better consumer, Mrs. Samtur said. She looks for products with refunds and she checks the weight or ounces of a product for better buys. She will not buy non-perishable foods if they are not on sell. If they are on sell, Mrs. Samtur will buy more than she needs for a week. Mrs. Samtur s suggestions for using coupons are: Cut out all coupons, trade coupons not used, divide the coupons according to the grocery sections and plan shopping before going to the store.
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